Your map is very cool. Nice touch with the trade routes. However, might I suggest a few more huntable animals? On 4 vs 4, the lack of huntables will make the map a bit too hard to play on. And in 1 vs 1, could you distribute the trading posts and huntables equally? One side often gets closer huntables and the trading posts are closer to each other only in one side while farther apart on the other side.
Finally, if its fine with you, could you place the native settlement in the middle of the map (right beside the intersection)? That way, whoever gets control of the center will get control of the natives, unlike now where one civ will definitely get lakota, iroquis or cherokee. Which seems a bit unfair especially with Lakota, IMO the players should have to fight for control of the natives.

I know squat on how to use the editor, so if you have the time to consider these suggestions then a lot of gamers will really appreciate your map. Thanks for the map!

Cheers :)

ScaryLarry

Posted on 04/25/06 @ 12:55 PM

Rating

5.0

Breakdown

Playability

5.0

Balance

5.0

Creativity

5.0

Map Design

5.0

Detail/Accuracy

5.0

Rating: 5

Nice job on the map. Overall, it was quite enjoyable and had ample variance from one play to the next. I only play these games against the computer, for now, so I had no problems with the amount of huntable animals. However, if you decide to go back and change that... Could you please add a couple more treasures as well? 8-)

The trade routes worked very well and I'm glad they were no crashes as a couple of times I noticed the stagecoaches passing through one another.

Additional Comments:Thanks for the map

FM ArouetFile Author

Posted on 04/26/06 @ 02:20 AM

Thanks for the comments, but I am just tinkering with the editor. Adding resources should be easy, however, I will have to learn how to add resources based on the number of players.

Getting the native settlements to distribute evenly was a pain. I fiddled around with the size and distribution of cliffs and lakes to find a combo which allowed for an even distribution of native settlements, but the random map generator tends to group them together? I am sure that the settlements can be locked into a location, but it is beyond my programming at the moment.

I purposely made the trade routes distribute unevenly. Why? Who knows, I was trying to eliminate the twelve trade sites the editor was placing.

Anyway, I recommend the editor, it is a good way to learn the RM code giving you a template to then edit for effect. Also try this site;
http://hyenastudios.mugamo.com/aoe3rmstutorial.htm.

FMA.......

Etivac

Posted on 04/27/06 @ 10:10 PM

Thanks for taking the time to listen and thanks for the map. Hope to see your re-post of Cross Post soon.

Cheers!

RF_Gandalf

Posted on 04/29/06 @ 02:49 PM

Hi FMA,

Thought I would add a little constructive criticism...some ideas on improving the script and some comments on the RMS Generator.

Let me start off by saying I like the idea of the crossing trade routes - in fact I released a map with that feature in the AOE3 Demo found here: http://aoe3.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=11
to show the stage coaches and trains passing thru each other. Pretty funny, at least the first few times you see it.

First, the generated map looks OK, but the uneven trade routes and unequal access to the trading posts is a real problem.

Second, the lakes are placed unfairly - sometimes one team (in 2 v 2) or one player (in 1 v 1) is much closer to the lakes and has better access to the fishing there.

Third, it did not seem that the 'treasures' or nuggets were placed fairly - one player gets access to easier ones or better ones often.

Lastly, the map places barracks for each player. This is OK unless you are Russians. I tried the game as Russians and got a standard barracks instead of a Blockhouse, and found I could not make strelets out of that barracks, only Muskets and Halbs. Of course the barracks did not function as a tower or blockhouse either. If you look at the Texas script, you could see how to edit the script to place a blockhouse instead of a barracks for any Russians (assuming you would want that - maybe you don't - I did not like not being able to produce strelets from my barracks).

The map demonstrates some of the weaknesses of the RMS Generator. The way it places 'random' waypoints for a trade route and does not allow custom placement of the trace sockets is a problem. The way the large lakes are generated does not allow you to customize where they go. It does not allow specific placement of trasures like on most ES maps - with easier ones available near your start and harder ones that require searching out; they are put down randomly, not placed evenly with similar value treasures per player.

I would recommend that you take some time to study the standard ES maps (although most of them are pretty haphazard and not 'cleaned up' at all) and some of the basic ones released by others here, so that if you continue to use the RMS Generator, you will learn how to edit them to make them even better. You could also check this question thread at the Scenario Design forum: http://aoe3.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=12,29982,0,20
to find some resources to learn from, and you could post any RMS related questions there also. Let us know if we can help with any of your questions.

[Edited on 04/29/06 @ 02:54 PM]

FM ArouetFile Author

Posted on 04/30/06 @ 02:12 AM

Thanks RF_Gandalf

Your points are well taken. The more I play with the RM Generator the more I find limitations. I have been playing around with templates from the Generator and editing using the tutorial at Hyena Studios. The RM scripts provided with the game have offered much in the way of expaining how the RM scripts function. I don't think I will ever get to the point of providing original scripts like yours or the other 'real' programmers. But it has been a fun exploration. Thanks for the input. I will submit my next map with more insight hope you will offer input. Much appreciated. ;)

dr nefarious

Posted on 05/02/06 @ 04:01 AM

Rating

3.0

Breakdown

Playability

3.0

Balance

3.0

Creativity

3.0

Map Design

3.0

Detail/Accuracy

3.0

Rating: 3
Good idea, badly executed. The basic map setup looks interesting, even though it suffers from the fact that it's only good for even player numbers. But the placement of objects is just terrible! Resources, treasures, fishing lakes, even trading posts - everything seems to have been placed completely random. Usually, one player/team will be at a huge advantage (or disadvantage) right from the start because of that, which makes this map completely uninteresting in my mind.
Also, the addition of outpost and barracks doesn't work for the Russians. If you want extra buildings, I recommend going with two blockhouses for the Russians and two outposts plus one barracks for everyone else, just like on the Texas map or on several custom maps. The additional buildings just don't work properly. The Russians can train single units (but no strelets) at the barracks, and the tower won't upgrade together with the blockhouses. While this might be an interesting twist in a scenario I feel it's somewhat out of place for a skirmish map.

Additional Comments:
I'd like to see an updated version which takes care of these points. As I said, I like the basic setup.